The technique of needle working yarn or thread onto a needlework canvas or linen is quite well developed and is the hobby or avocation of a large group of people. The most analogous conventional needlework stitches to this invention are known as a bargello stitch, a brick stitch, a basketweave stitch and a continental stitch. A description of a bargello stitch is found in Lee Wards, Complete Library of Needlecraft, Fuller & Dees, 1975, page 413. A description of brick, continental and basketweave stitches is found in Basic Needlecraft Stitches, Fuller & Dees, 1974, pages 24-27. In all of these stitches, the yarn exposed on the front of the needlework canvas is more-or-less aligned with the axis of the mesh openings rather than diagonal across the axis of the mesh openings. As is true in all of these type stitches, the yarn contains split threads on the back of the canvas resulting from passing the needle from the canvas front, piercing a yarn segment on the canvas back and drawing a length of yarn through the yarn segment on the back. Similarly, one characteristic of conventional needlepoint is that no concern is given to the orientation of the yarn on the canvas front because yarn is necessarily generally cylindrical or has no predominate axis transverse to the length of the yarn. As will become more fully apparent hereinafter, needleworking with ribbon requires that attention be given to the orientation of the ribbon sections appearing on the canvas front in order to provide a pleasing appearance. In addition, the splitting of ribbon on the canvas back is impermissible because any such deformation of the ribbon on the canvas back results in deformation of the ribbon segments visible on the canvas front thereby substantially detracting from the appearance of the finished piece.